Non-piercing archery target



Nov. 4, 1969 .A. F. ROLOFF ET AL NON-PIERCING ARCHERY TARGET 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ed July 6. 1967 INVENTOR.

AZ/SZ/STE RULUFP y m/xv/a .s. RULa/F Nov. 4, 1969 Filed July e, 1967 A. F. ROLOFF ETAL' NON-PIERCING ARCHERY TARGET 2 Shets-Sheet 2 INVENT AZ/EU'ST J- RULE NINA 5. RULE United States Patent 3,476,390 NON-PIERCING ARCHERY TARGET August F. Rolotr and Mina S. Rolotf, both of R.D., Relds Hill Road, Morganville, NJ. 07751 Filed July 6, 1967, Ser. No. 651,509 Int. Cl. A63b 63/00, 69/00 US. Cl. 273-102 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This disclosure describes an arrow stopping archery target including a first penetrable layer of an elastomeric foam material backed by a deformable sheet of diaphragm rubber. One embodiment includes a third foam layer disposed behind the rubbre sheet.

p This is related to my copending application, Ser. No. 377,304 filed June 23, 1964.

This invention relates to a target and more particularly a target such as that used for archery, in which the arrow does not completely pierce the target.

In archery the targets disclosed in the prior art are relatively soft objects that are easily pierced by an arrow thus making the target dangerous for anyone in back of the target and the target being easily destroyed after a plurality of piercing shots. Also this type of target wears the arrow shaft and destroys the arrow feathers after a plurality of shots.

It is an object of this invention to provide a tar-get with a face that is easily pierced by the projectile that is propelled at the target but in which the target is provided with a shock absorbing layer to reduce and resist penetration of the projectile and a flexible membrane to prevent complete penetration of said target and a binding element to retain said target components in a single package. It is a further object of this invention to provide a target with a face that is easily pierced by the projectile that is propelled at the target but in which the target is provided with a shock absorbing layer to provide resistance to penetration of the arrow and a flexible membrane to prevent penetration and a shock absorbing layer to assist said flexible membrane in absorbing the shock of said arrow to prevent complete penetration of said tar- 3,476,390 Patented Nov. 4, 1969 The face 12 is generally a paper printed face. To retain its rigidty, the face 12 is pasted or cemented to a cardboard 14 of the same general configuration and size. The cardboard 14 is in turn backed up by a second cardboard 15 of the same configuration. Cardboard 15 is positioned to abut with a layer of elastomeric material such as synthetic or natural rubber foam 20. Said foam layer will be of a desired thickness 2"-4" according to the velocity of the arrow projected into said layer. For a minimum, a 2 layer with a density of 5-10 pounds per cubic foot, compression of %30% and a resiliency of 30-65%, may be used. The layer of foam is in turn positioned to abut with a sheet of rubber 16 either natural or synthetic such as butyl or neoprene and a textile bag-like layer 17 such as burlap is used to cover the elements being placed over the rubber sheet and pulled forward so that the ends or edges 18 of the bag-like textile may be positioned beget and a binding element to retain said target components in a single package.

Further objects of this invention shall be apparent by reference to the accompanying detailed description an the drawings in which FIG. 1 illustrates a plan view of a target,

FIG. 2 is an exploded cross sectional view of one embdoiment of said target taken on line 22 of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 illustrates a cross sectional exploded view of a further embodiment of this target,

FIG. 4 illustrates a cross sectional exploded view of a still further embodiment of this invention,

FIG. 5 illustrates a front elevational view of the target in a supported position, and

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the target illustrating in cross section a safety shield.

Referring to FIG. 1 there is illustrated a typical target 10 for low velocity arrows which may be of a size suitable for the type of support it may be designed for, for example, when used as an outdoor archery target, it is generally large, whereas when used as an indoor target, it is smaller. As illustrated in FIG. 1 the target 10 will be provided with a face 12 and may be provided with a hanger 11 to permit easy positioning or hanging of the target.

Referring to FIG. 2 there is illustrated in cross section the components utilized to make a typical archery target in which the target 10 is composed of a target face 12.

tween the cardboard elements 14 and 15 and the elements 14 and 15 may be glued or cemented in this relationship to thus hold the target into one complete component. To facilitate the hanging or positioning of the target, a rope or wire hanger 21 may be inserted between the cardboard elements 14 and 15 when they are glued or cemented together.

Referring to FIG. 3 there is illustrated a further embodiment of the target illustrated in FIG. 2. The target illustrated in FIG. 3 is designed primarily to asborb and retain arrows propelled up to a maximum speed without allowing the arrow to completely pierce the target. The target 10 in this embodiment is provided with a target face 12 which may be similar to the prior embodiment that is, a paper face or for the better type of target, the face will be formed of oil cloth or similar material. The face abuts with a cardboard 14 of the same configuration, cardboard 14 abuts with a second cardboard element 15 of the same configuration. Cardboard 15 abuts with a layer of elastomeric material such as synthetic or natural rubber foam 20. This foam layer is chosen to provide ideal resistance to arrows but does not prevent penetration. This layer of foam may be of a minimum thickness such as l of the proper foam material is chosen. The foam layer 20 is positioned to abut with a second layer 23 of elastomeric material such as synthetic or natural rubber foam. However foam layer 23 is of a higher quality or denser composition foam rubber that provides a higher resistance to penetration of the arrow. The foam rubber 23 is next positioned to abut with a stretchable sheet of neoprene diaphragm rubber 16 either natural or synthetic. The sheet of rubber 16 is a sheet of neoprene diaphragm rubber having nylon reinforcing in said sheet to provide a stretchable but resisting barrier to the passage of an arrow and is in turn backed up by a layer of elastomeric foam rubber 24 to assist in absorbing the impact of the arrow point. The components are retained by a bag-like textile layer 17 which may be of muslin. The bag-like element extends in front of the face 12 and may be cemented or sewn in this position. To provide this target with a greater rigidity, a plurality of stitches 25 may be made completely through the target in any particular pattern to retain the elements in juxta-position. Similarly a hanger 21 may be inserted to provide an easy means of positioning or hanging the target. The elastomeric foam materials referred to herein shall be any of the well known thermoplastic or thermosetting resin foams natural or synthetic rubber foams such as: Serafoam, polystyrene foam, polyether foam, polyvinyl chloride foam, polyurethane foam, etc. The foams vary in density from 1 to 1.86 lbs. per cubic foot. A particular foam used was Serafoam having a density of 1.25 to 1.31 lbs. per cu. ft., with a compression using a two inch layer of 21.5 to 25 lbs. and using a 4 inch layer of 26 to 31 lbs. By actual test the foams used show that any foam material may be used for the penetration layer 20-and 23, FIG. 3 (of course varying the density according to the use). The foam used for layer 24 (FIG. 3) is a foam to provide shock absorption as the arrow does not penetrate this layer. The rubber sheet referred to is preferably a stretchable synthetic neoprene diaphragm rubber with a layer or ply of nylon sandwiched in the 7 layer. The tensile strength is 1400 p.s.i., Durometer 60, average bursting over a 2" opening is 900 lbs.

Referring to FIG. 4 there is illustrated a still further embodiment of this invention in which there is a target face 12 mounted or cemented to a card-board 14. The cardboard 14 is in turn positioned to abut with a layer of elastomeric foam material 20 such as synthetic or natural rubber foam. The layer in this instance may be a thickness such as 4". The layer of foam 20 is in turn positioned in spaced relationship to a sheet of rubber 16. The sheet of rubber 16 is a sheet of neoprene diaphragm rubber having nylon reinforcing in said sheet to provide a stretchable but resisting barrier to the passage of an arrow. The sheet of rubber 16 is in spaced relationship to a sheet or layer of elastomeric foam material 27 that is of high impact and force absorbing quality with a com pression of 26 to 31 lbs. The components may be backed up and retained in their related positions by a stiff or rigid rim 28 and backing 28A. The rim 28 is crimped tightly about the target on its edges 29.

Referring to FIG. there is illustrated the target which may be similar to the target illustrated in FIG. 4 or the other embodiments and to support the target in a position where it can not be hung there are provided a plurality of legs 30. The legs 30 may be affixed on either side of the target as illustrated in FIG. 5 by affixing one end of the leg to the stiff rim 28 and providing a brace 31 from one leg to the other attached to each leg. A third leg 30 may be provided behind the target with one end afiixed to the backing 28A.

Referring to FIG. 6 there is illustrated a target 10 and a cone shaped shield 33 of a resilient rubber or plastic sheeting is fitted to the target 10, that is, the cone shaped shield 33 is in reality a frusto-cone in which the least diameter is fitted to the periphery of the target and the maximum diameter provides the maximum spread of the shield 33. The shield 33 may be slanted at such an angle that the projectile that misses the target 10 and hits shield '33 will simply be deflected downward toward the target to fall harmlessly. Thus with the shield 33 mounted to any of the targets described herein, the projectile is not harmed by its glancing impact with the shield 33. The shield 33 may be provided with a glossy finish to insure the least amount of frictional contact on the impact of the projectile. The shield 33 may be supported entirely by the target 10 or it may be supported in a similar fashion to the target illustrated in FIG. 5 by attaching the legs on either side directly to the shield 33.

The neoprene diaphragm rubber sheet referred to herein shall be a natural (butyl) rubber or a synthetic (neoprene) rubber. To reinforce the sheet there are nylon cords embedded therein. The rubber sheet shall be capable of showing an impact measured by a Durometer in the range of 0-60 (according to the Shore A Scale). The sheet shall have a tensile strength of about 1400 p.s.i. and a bursting strength over a 2" opening of 900 lbs. (1 ply). One elastomeric foam material referred to herein is a natural or synthetic rubber foam varying in density from 1.50-.05 and varying in thickness from 1" to 4" and having the following physical characteristics:

Foam thickness vs. Compression @25% deflection 1" thickness 1 LD lbs.-from 10-25%.

4 2"- thickness 1 LD lbs.-from 10-33% 3" thickness 1 LD lbs..from 11-37%. 4" thickness 1 LD lbs-from 12-42%. A tensile stressl5 .0 p.s.i. minimum. Tear strength2.0 lbs/in. minimum. Elongation250% minimum,

and aresiliency of from 30% to 65%.

Various changes may be made in the size or shape of the target and in the arrangement of the components of the target or in the thickness of the foam, Whether synthetic or natural, whether rubber or plastic, without departing from the spirit of this invention and this invention shall be limited only by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An archery target comprising an easily piercable face sheet marked with a target, a shock absorbing and penetration body comprising a first substantially uniform layer of resilient elastomeric foam material having a minimum tear strength of about 2.0 pounds per inch. placed behind said face sheet, a second non-penetrating layer comprised of a resilient, deformable sheet of diaphragm rubber at least coextensive with said first layer and placed therebehind, said rubber sheet having a tensile strength of about 1400 p.s.i. and a bursting strength over a 2" opening of about 900 lbs. and means maintaining said layers and said face sheet in juxtaposition.

2. The target of claim 1 including another layer comprised or resilient elastomeric foam material placed behind the sheet of diaphragm rubber.

3. The target of claim 1 including an additional layer of resilient elastomeric foam material of greater density than the first layer and positioned between the first layer and the rubber sheet.

4. The target of claim 1 including another layer comrising a resilient elastomeric foam material placed in spaced relation (behind the second layer.

5. The target of claim 1 wherein the diaphragm rubber sheet includes nylon cord reinforcing.

6. The target of claim 1 wherein the face sheet includes a sheet of material that is easily pierced by an arrow and afiixed to a corrugated cardboard sheet.

7. The target of claim 1 wherein the elastomeric foam material has a density of 1.0 to 1.86 lbs/cu. ft.

8. The target of claim 1 wherein the diaphragm rubber sheet is butyl rubber. I

9. The target of claim 1 wherein the diaphragm rubber sheet is neoprene.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 225,734 3/1880 Tangeman 273-102 2,535,280 12/1950 Gartrell 273102.4 2,808,266 10/1957 Rose. 2,818,258 12/1957 Stern 273-102 3,048,401 8/1962 Dishon 273-102 3,088,738 5/1963 Meyer 273-102 X 3,203,698 8/1965 Saunders 273-102.4 3,367,660 2/1968 DiMaggio 273102 FOREIGN PATENTS 259,565 7/1964 Australia.

ANTON O. OECHSLE, Primary Examiner M. R. PAGE, Assistant Examiner U.S. c1. X.R. 

